The iPad has been out for a little over a week now, and I thought that I would give you my quick review. I got the iPad the day of release and have been using it on a daily basis. There is much to love about it, and a few things are left to be desired.

The screen is the most important part of this device, and it is wonderful. Bright, with vibrant colors, and very responsive to touch. That being said, the glass is both a blessing and a curse for the iPad. It helps show off the display, but at the same time it’s an oily mess after just minuets of use. I understand Apple wanting to keep the price down and keeping the packaging simple; but come on, include a polishing cloth! With the screen being so reflective, it makes it nearly impossible to see out side on a bright sunny day, even with the brightness turned all the way up. Another problem to me is the screen resolution, 1024 x 768 is not good for a device like this… I would prefer a widescreen resolution.

The multi-touch is very responsive, and much easier to use than the iPhone. The UI is very intuitive and one of the most responsive out of any modern computer. Apple kept to the simple design interface that was introduced with the original iPhone, with a few minor improvements. iPhone OS is looking long in the tooth, and is starting to get cluttered.

The lack of multitasking might be a deal breaker for some, but with the future release of iPhone OS 4 this will be addressed. For me, I don’t think of their solution as multitasking and much as suspending apps for latter use, which they can do now. Another feature of iPhone OS 4 that I have been missing from the beginning is folders. This will be an added addition to the iPad and iPhone.

Back to the iPad, after a week I have only charged the battery twice, making this one of the longest battery life devices I have ever used. With normal use, you can easily get the touted ten hours of battery life, if not more. As I mentioned earlier this device is supper snappy, and responsive, something you would not expect from a device with such great battery life. One of the biggest problems for me was the added weight from the battery. At 1.5 lb., it gets hard to hold after just a few minutes.

The apps are very nice looking, and well thought out. The iWork apps are also a great addition to the app store. All this benign said, the price for some apps is a large barrier and some are just out right over priced. With the price out of the way, another problem is just how buggy all the apps are. This is partly the fault of Apple because they didn’t seed developers with ipads before launch. The overall bugginess of the apps will improve with time, as will the lack luster selection of apps in the app store.

Over all my impressions are very good. The iPad is less of a revolutionary device and more of a evolutionary device. It has it’s place, and while some say it is more of a toy, I have replaced my laptop with it. I can use my desktop computer for doing the heavy lifting and my iPad for the more day to day work, including writing this blog post.